The rising price of bread in France, symbolic of the high cost of living, is putting pressure on the president, Nicolas Sarkozy, as he confronts growing dissatisfaction with shop prices.

The stick of crusty bread that symbolises French eating habits is the latest victim of the leap in international wheat prices which has hit Italian pasta-makers and US cereal firms. Priced at an average 75 to 95 cents (50-65p) in high-street bakeries, the baguette is forecast to rise 5 cents, a 5% to 7% jump. Consumers in France, where nine out of 10 people buy fresh bread daily and many eat baguette three times a day, are starting to protest.

Surveys have shown that two-thirds of French people no longer trust the government to curb the high cost of living.

Raising consumer purchasing power was one of Mr Sarkozy's key election pledges as he promised the country an economic revolution. Making ends meet is one of French voters' top concerns, and the new president promised that tax cuts and labour reforms would help.

Now his political enemies are using the baguette as a stick to beat him with. The left-leaning daily Libération displayed a gold baguette on its front page yesterday, warning that French people felt Mr Sarkozy's economic measures were largely benefiting the rich and leaving average families struggling. The Socialist party warned that the rising price of the baguette and other staples had turned Mr Sarkozy's plans to protect the country's wallets into a doomed "black dossier". Le Monde's famous cartoonist has depicted Mr Sarkozy's wife, Cécilia, as Marie-Antoinette saying: "Let them eat cake."

"What if the real thorn in Nicolas Sarkozy's side is the price of the baguette?" asked a commentator in the regional paper La Montagne. Les Dernières Nouvelles D'Alsace warned: "Like the weather, baguette prices feature in every conversation."

Mr Sarkozy's ministers have moved to limit the damage, with his finance minister, Christine Lagarde, promising she was "on alert" over baguette prices. The junior minister for consumer issues, Luc Chatel, stepped in after consumer groups complained the price of a baguette had gone up 50% in 15 years. Mr Chatel said it was unfair to increase prices in years when the cost of wheat had fallen as well as in years when it had risen. Bread prices in France have been deregulated since 1978.

The government rushed to show it was protecting household costs, with the prime minister, François Fillon, complaining of telephone companies' high pricing, and the education minister calling for the prices of back-to-school items to be kept low.

Mr Sarkozy announced his latest round of economic reforms yesterday, promising more tax cuts and labour reforms to stimulate France's flagging economy. In a speech to business leaders, he said that to argue "the euro had not pushed prices up was to make fun of the world".

Outlining his rescue plan, he said he would further loosen the 35-hour week - an "immense economic mistake" - and vowed that one out of three public sector workers would not be replaced on retirement. He also said more French shops should be allowed to open on Sundays.

French economic growth slowed in the second quarter as business investment faltered, hitting hopes of a strong European recovery and reducing the French government's room for manoeuvre.